ABSTRACT
Indigenous social movements can be viewed both as a response to mistreatment and human rights violations and as efforts by indigenous peoples to assert their identities and rights. According to Tsing (2007, 33), the global indigenous movement in many ways ‘represents the unity of the oppositions and contradictions’; it promises unity based on plurality and diversity without assimilation. As Escarcega (2003, 58) pointed out, ‘The diverse voices from the international indigenous movement are rich, sometimes strident, full of symbolism, and come from people of many different backgrounds and experiences.’ The enthusiasm for the pursuit of indigenous rights claims draws on the creative possibilities of such juxtapositions.
